Help me figure out my perfect tropical freshwater community!

[amandafromohios]

Hi Everyone! Short intro...so previously to moving to college (4+ years ago), I had a 55 gallon cold freshwater tank which unfortunately was destroyed in a house fire.

Lately I've been missing it a lot and considering getting a 75 gallon and moving into tropical freshwater fish. I was doing a lot of research (being a university researcher) but am finding a lot of conflicting info out there. This is really concerning because I REALLY want to do it right this time and have accurate information about my fish!

I joined another forum to get some advice on some of the fish I was leaning towards, but I'm finding that even there there are differences in opinions! I came here to get some additional opinions as to what an ideal balance for my first tropical freshwater would be- I'd really appreciate your input!

I've ruled out tiger and green tiger barbs, since they seem to not fit in so well with some of the species I'm really set on...

So far sure I'm wanting..
6 peppered corys
6 boesemani rainbows
2 ram cichlids
1 blue acara

......and then here comes the conflicts...

I originally really wanted some angels, they're the whole reason I eliminated the barbs, but there's a lot of mixed info out there. Obviously there's the pairing off/aggression issue, but then I read somewhere that they're fine in groups, and someone advised that I get 3-5, but then another person advised that I get one, two max. What should I really be doing here??? Also, I really like both the black AND marble veil- is it okay to mix those or do they really need to be the same kind?

The other conflict was about gourami's. One suggested a trio of pearl gourami's to round out my tank, but then another said that was a bad idea and again to get 1-2 max. What do you advise here??

The acara I could do without, and the gourami's aren't of utmost importance (although I do like the pearl, powder blue, & neon blue dwarf variations), but the angelfish I'd really like to have.


Any advice here? Thanks to anyone that took the time to read that huge thing! I really appreciate all your pro input!

 

[FishyMamma]

Following. Wish I knew enough about those species. I know a bit about a few kinds (Cories, Livebearers, some on Angels...)

Try AngelsPlus.com, good articles on Angels there.


Keeping my sleeves wet...

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[Pseudomugil]

Have you heard of moonlight gouramis? They're one of the larger gourami species but have amazing coloration and make for a great centerpiece.

Also, the pictures online of them do not compare to the real fish. The real fish looks much better.

 

[michellev512]

I'm not sure about the acara and rams together...


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[michellev512]

Gourami's tend to bicker amongst themselves too...
I have 1 pear and 1 angel...still seeing how that goes


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[Aliray]

I think you will find that most people have their own opinions and that they don't always agree. Fish keeping is not an exact science. what works for one person may not work for another . Kind of trial and error. You research the fish you want and do the best you can. ...Alison

 

[erla]

Yes, there's lots of conflicting advice, so I'll just tell you about my experience, and what's worked for me (at least so far)!

I have 5 Boesmani rainbows, an angelfish mated pair (male and female), 2 dwarf gouramis (a female and a male), as well as 5 Millenium rainbows in a 55 gallon. Everyone seems to get along.

For the angels, I think I lucked out in that I was able to get them correctly sexed by someone at my LFS who knew what he was doing (he said he was fairly confident in his ability to sex them, and he turned out to be right!). They swim along together, but are not aggressive toward the other fish... They mated (unsuccessfully) a couple of times initially, but then seemed to give up. Even when they were mating, they were not overly aggressive in protecting the eggs, but again, I may have just gotten lucky!

For the dwarf gouramis, I was hoping they might pair up too... They haven't: but they don't fight either. They mostly just ignore each other.

This set up has been going since last summer, so a good amount of time, but I suppose there may still be aggression that may come out later... If so, I've got an extra 55 gallon where I can move fish as needed.

 

[fishliker]

I think you will find that most people have their own opinions and that they don't always agree. Fish keeping is not an exact science. what works for one person may not work for another . Kind of trial and error. You research the fish you want and do the best you can. ...Alison

This is so true. I always like to share about the pearl gourami. This is my experience: I had 3 in my 55 gallon and they have been great in my tank, often hanging out together. Recently I rehomed my congo tetras because they were so big and fast and just took over my tank. I added 2 more pearl gourami and love them in my tank, 4 females, one male. The 5 hang out together most of the time. Besides those I have 14 Cardinal tetras. Pearls like lots of plants, including floating ones to not be shy and don't like zippy fast fish. I don't know about pearls and angel fish together. Have fun!


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[jasmin1502]

Cichlids can't really be mixed with other types of fish. They can only be with other cichlids


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[michellev512]

African cichlids can't be housed with other fish. Dwarf Cichlids can do well in community tanks.
I have apistogramma macmasteri and they only bicker amongst themselves...


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[erla]

Yeah, it really depends on the type of cichlid. The OP asks about rams, angelfish, and blue acara (all cichlids), and I know at least rams and angelfish work in community tanks, and I think blue acara too.

 

[Nils]

Hmm, I'd say to cut the Blue Acara and just do a couple angelfish, a pair of Bolivian Ram cichlids, the bosemani rainbows and up the peppered cory school to at least 12. That should be okay for a 75, even maybe a little understocked. Don't yell at me if I'm wrong, I don't know that much about cichlids lol.

Nils

 

[michellev512]

Hmm, I'd say to cut the Blue Acara and just do a couple angelfish, a pair of Bolivian Ram cichlids, the bosemani rainbows and up the peppered cory school to at least 12. That should be okay for a 75, even maybe a little understocked. Don't yell at me if I'm wrong, I don't know that much about cichlids lol.

Nils

Totally agree


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[Stacey W.]

Cichlids can't really be mixed with other types of fish. They can only be with other cichlids


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I have a keyhole cichlid with 6 panda corydora, 2 yoyo loaches, 1 angelicus botia loach, 1 oto, and 2 honey gourami. He's the greatest.

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